Fishery Bulletin 88(1), 1990 



in Sandy Hook Bay, Shark River Inlet, Manasquan 

 Inlet, Barnegat Bay, Little Egg Inlet, Absecon Inlet, 

 Corson's Inlet, and the Maurice River (Fig. 1). These 

 larvae were in the range 8-21 mm (n = 378), but most 

 were 11-14 mm. In Manasquan Inlet larval abundance 

 was quite high, with counts per half-hour set reaching 

 31 larvae on 24 October 1967, 44 on 28 November 1963, 

 34 on 2 December 1966, and 64 on 5 December 1963 

 (Festa 1974). 



Movement of transforming individuals through inlets 

 in New Jersey occurs primarily October- December 

 (Fig. 4). However, a few larvae have been collected as 

 late as February (15-17 mm Th, n = 2) in Little Sheeps- 

 head Creek inside Little Egg Inlet (this study); in 

 March and May (15.0-19.0 mm TL, n = 4) in the 

 Maurice River off Delaware Bay; in March in Manas- 

 quan Inlet {n = 1) and Corson Inlet (n = 1); and Feb- 

 ruary, March, and April in Absecon Inlet (10.6-13.8 

 mm TL, n = 7) (Table 1). The extensive collections in 

 the Manasquan and Shark River inlets (Festa 1974) 

 produced relatively large numbers that are depicted as 

 the first peak of 10-20 mm individuals in October in 

 Figure 4. Other collections suggest that some of these 

 individuals may attain a size of 30-50 mm by Decem- 

 ber, but these occurrences have been sporadic. During 

 1975-80, P. dentatus of 30-50 mm only occurred in 

 winter 1975. The available data are sparse for YOY 

 January-April (Fig. 4). This same cohort was repre- 

 sented by a few individuals in May (30-50 mm and 

 perhaps up to 90 mm), more individuals in June (30-140 

 mm) and accounts for the dominant peak July-October 

 when they reach a size of 160-320 mm. As a result, 

 in October there were two well-defined length- 

 frequency modes: a mode around 10 mm that repre- 



sents transforming individuals, and a larger mode 

 (160-320 mm) that represents individuals 1 year older. 

 In a subsample (n = 111) of P. dentatus collected dur- 

 ing the period September- November (larger mode in 

 Figure 4), 97% of the scales lacked an annulus; thus, 

 by convention (Smith et al. 1981), they are considered 

 to be YOY, although they are 1 year older than the 

 transforming .specimens (smaller mode in Figure 4). 



Fall distribution of YOY 



Young-of-the-y ear (160-320 mm) apparently move out 

 of estuaries in fall with adults. By November, YOY are 

 less abundant inshore (P"'ig. 4) but are well represented 

 in NMFS continental shelf trawl surveys (Fig. 5). This 

 same size class appeared as a definite peak ('^ 200-270 

 mm) in September 1985 trawl collections off the coast 

 of New Jersey (Halgren and Scarlett 1985). YOY in- 

 dividuals are distributed inshore from Long Island to 

 south of Cape Hatteras at this time of the year (Fig. 6) 

 with larger individuals apparently more abundant 

 north of Delaware Bay (Fig. 7). 



Discussion 



Timing and location of spawning 

 and development 



The geographical patterns of reproduction observed 

 during 1979-85, as measured by the distribution and 

 abundance of eggs (Fig. 2), were similar to those 

 reported for 1965-66 (Smith 1973). An exception is the 

 report (possibly a result of misidentifications) of spawn- 

 ing in July in Narragansett Bay (Herman 1963). Our 

 sampling in 1980-86 extended farther north and east 



